NEED SOME HELP!!!!!

Okay.....I found these two jackets at a surplus store right next to each other. Definitely came back from the same soldier. One is a foreign made 6-Color jacket with shoulder straps. The only tags it has is a M-S and 60% Cotton/40% Polyester tag. To me, it looks like an Iraqi 6-Color jacket.

The other jacket is what has me scratching my head. The other jacket that was with it is heavily used modified 6-Color desert jacket made by Tru-Spec. I am not sure if it is an Iraqi used piece or if it is a US Special Forces Advisor jacket. The velcro rectangles above the sleeve pockets are much smaller than the normal velcro for the US flag you see on standard US modifieds. Any thoughts?

IF this is an Iraqi used jacket, it is the first time I have seen a Tru-Spec jacket in use by the Iraqis.

Both of these jackets came out of the Ft. Campbell military base, which is the home of the 5th SFG. The 5th SFG has done a lot of fighting and advising in Iraq since 2003. I am thinking either Iraqi Army used or US Special Forces advisor jacket. Thoughts?

My understanding was that US forces dealt out issued and surplussed 6-color desert sets after the take-over in Bagdad, to the newly formed Iraqi army or defence forces that they were training and since working together with, as to deploy a camouflage 'familiar' enough to US troops to prevent blue-on-blue situations.If this is the case, many Tru-Spec or other aftermarket 6-color desert pieces may have entered the scene to fill in the 'gaps' or needs in the uniform distribution, since it was the camouflage pattern and colors, and not the 'real-issue-status' of the gear, that was the main objective?On that note, I am aware of the early developement date of the 6-color pattern, and the quick change to 3-color desert pattern within two years, but are the many web based accounts of Gulf War troops deeming the choc chip pattern 'un-soldier-like' or rightdown poofy, true?

What you say makes perfect sense to me. It would make sense that an order to Tru-Spec as a "gap filler" would be plausible. If part of the mission for the 5th SFG was to train and advise some of the Iraqi units post-2003 invasion, then equipping the Iraqis would also be part of that mission. Furthermore, with the jacket being modified, I would say there is a good chance that the owner of the jacket may have been some sort of Iraqi SF type. Very interesting. Thanks for commenting.

When dealing with uniforms worn by special operations units, there is really no telling anything about them unless you get them right from the source.

We have no way of knowing what requirements that particular unit may have had as far as velcro on the uniform.

saltefanden wrote:On that note, I am aware of the early developement date of the 6-color pattern, and the quick change to 3-color desert pattern within two years, but are the many web based accounts of Gulf War troops deeming the choc chip pattern 'un-soldier-like' or rightdown poofy, true?

In ODS, the 3-color DCU was just being fielded and our unit was issued both, with the majority issue being 6-color fatigues.. Most of the folks in my unit thought the new 3-color uniforms were "weird" and preferred the 6-color desert fatigues. There was much trading going on from the guys who were "blessed" with the 3-color DCUs.

Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) refers to the Iraqi special forces unit created by Coalition forces after the 2003 invasion. As of November 2009, the forces, directed by the Iraqi Counter-Terrorist Bureau, consist of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorist Command, which has two brigades subordinate to it. The Counter-Terrorist Bureau is funded by the Ministry of Defence (Iraq). Most special operations troops in the old Iraqi army were almost all Sunni Arabs, selected for their loyalty to Saddam Hussein, and sometimes used against their own people. Because of this, the current Iraqi commando force had to be recruited from scratch, mostly from Kurds and Shia Arabs. In November 2005, after two years of training in Jordan with Jordanian and US Army Special Forces, the Iraqi Special Operations Force had 1440 men trained, composed into two combat battalions and two support battalions. In March 2008, the force consisted of a single brigade which in turn was made up of an Iraqi National Counter-Terrorism Force (INCTF) battalion, three Commando battalions, a support battalion and a special reconnaissance unit.

This last pic is very interesting. The Iraqi Commando on the right is wearing a 6-Color desert jacket with sleeve pocket modifications. The sleeve pockets do not appear to have velcro on them. Above the sleeve pocket is a small area for an Iraqi flag. Also note, there are no shoulder straps on his jacket. Seems to be identical to the modified I posted.